Assembly toy set

ABSTRACT

This assembly toy set comprises baseboards having a plurality of arranged holes in one planar surface thereof and fittings such as rail, signal, house, tree and the like which fittings are provided with many protuberances adapted to be snugly received in said holes.

United States Patent lnventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Yoshitaka Yonezawa Tokyo, Japan Aug. 19, 1968July 27, 1971 Yonezawa Toys 0)., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan ASSEMBLY TOY SET 3Claims, 16 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl

Int. Cl

Field of Search References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1959 OBack eta1.

2/ 1967 Wolfe 1/1969 Venturi.. 7/1968 Martin 5/1969 Quercetti PrimaryExaminer- Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. CuttingAIt0rneyOBerlin, Maky, Donnelly & Renner 46/17 X 46/25 X 46/30 UX 46/16X 46/16 ABSTRACT: This assembly toy set comprises baseboards having aplurality of arranged holes in one planar surface thereof and fittingssuch as rail, signal, house, tree and the like which fittings areprovided with many protuberances adapted to be snugly received in saidholes.

PATENTED JUL 2 7197;

SHEET 1 UF PATENTED JUL2 7 '9?! sum 2 or 3 FIGJO PATENTED JUL27 I971 sum3 OF 3 ASSEMBLY TOY SET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally, therefore, it is an object of theinvention to obviate the above and other disadvantages and difficultiesand to provide a novel assembly toy set which has certain structural andfunctional features and advantages over the similar assembly toy sets ofthe prior art. Another object of the present invention is to provide anassembly toy set which is both economical to manufacture and simple toconstruct.

A principal object of the invention is to provide toy set whichcomprises baseboard which is provided at its periphery with flangeshaving snap grooves to be engaged with those of the other porousbaseboard, and fittings which are provided with one or moreprotuberances which'mate with holes pro vided on the surface of the saidbaseboard.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new locomotive toyhaving wheels of curved inner face which is suitable to slide along therail road constructed according to the invention. I

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of natureand object of the inven-,

tion a reference should be had to following detailed description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which the samereference numerals designate the sameor similar parts throughout thedrawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in partially sectioned of the baseboardaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a' fragmentarily enlarged sectional view of the baseboard ofFIG. I; V

FIG. 3a is a perspective view of the rectangular fitting of oneembodiment according to the invention;

FIG. 3b is a longitudinally sectioned view of FIG. 3a;

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the circular fitting of anotherembodiment according to the invention;

FIG. 4b is a longitudinally sectioned view of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 5a is a perspective view of the sleeve fitting of furtherembodiment according to the invention;

FIG. b is a longitudinally sectioned view of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 6a to 6c are perspective views of the fittings of anotherembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentarily enlarged sectional view'of the assembled toysets;

FIG. 8 is a partial cross section of a vehicle wheel associated with thetrack of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 to It show pictorial views of the assembled toy sets according tothe invention.

As illustrated by way of example in the drawings. the characteristicfeature of the invention comprises a baseboard which is provided at itsperiphery with flanges having snap grooves to be engaged with those ofthe other porous baseboards, and fitting holes provided on the surfaceof the said baseboard.

In FIGS. 1 to 7, the reference numeral 1 designates the baseboard whichis formed of plastic material such as hard vinyl chloride. The baseboardl at its periphery is provided with the flange 2 which in conjunctionwith the peripheral wall of the baseboard defines a channel snap groove3 for association with the snap groove or inner locking means of an adjacent baseboard. The reference numeral 4 denotes numerous fitting holeswhich are regularly arranged on the surface of the baseboard 1. Thesefitting holes 4 may be provided simultaneously with forming thebaseboard l and the spacing from the peripheral edge of the baseboard lto the adjacent fitting holes is of a half size of the normal spacingbetween the fitting holes so that when two baseboards are coupled witheach other through the flange 2, the spacing between the fitting holesadjacent to the terminal of the baseboard becomes equivalent to thenormal spacing between the fitting holes.

Referring to FIG. 7, the holes 4 provided in the surface of thebaseboard may-have a downwardly extending protuberance 6 associated withthe terminal wall 5 of such hole. The bottom of the protuberance 6 iscoplanar with the bottom of the peripheral walls of the baseboard tothereby provide additional support for the baseboard as shown in FIG. 1.The diameter of the protuberance 6 is the same as the diameter of theprotuberance 8 to thereby facilitate its association and reception inhole 9 provided in fitting 11. Thus the baseboard can beelevated abovethe floor by members 11 or may be superimposed on another baseboard asshown in FIG. 9.

The rectangular fitting 7 is adapted to constitute a linear rail ortrack section which at its rear side is provided with one or moreprotuberance 8 which is inserted into the fitting hole 4 provided in thesurface of the baseboard], while the upper surface of the said fitting 7at the position corresponding to the protuberance 8 is provided with afitting hole 9. In case more than two protuberances 8 are provided inthe fitting 7, the spacing between the said protuberances must be inaccord with the spacing between the fitting holes 2 provided on thesurface of the baseboard l. The spacing from the fitting hole 9 to theterminal of the fitting 7 is a half size of the spacing between thefitting holes 9 so that more than two fittings 7 may be mounted on thebaseboard l in series without being superposed with each other.

The circular fitting 10 is used for constituting a crossing of rails andits diameter is substantially the same as the width of the rectangularfitting 7.

The reference numeral 11' designates a hollow sleeve fitting which isadapted to serve as .a pile for supporting the superposed baseboard asshown in FIG. 9 and is provided at its one end with a protuberance 8adapted to be inserted into the fitting hole 2 of the baseboard l. Thecurved fitting 12 having the width of approximately the same as that ofthe rectangular fitting 7 is employed to constitute a curvature of atrack member and is provided at its upper surface with more than twofitting holes 9 and at its rear side with more than two protuberances 8.In this case the positions of the protuberances 8 and the spacingtherebetween should be determined in such a way that the curved fitting12 is rigidly secured to the baseboard while the two ends of suchfitting abuttingly engage the ends of the associated individualfittings.

A discal fitting I3 and a tetragonal fitting 14 may be used as buildingmembers as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

In FIG. 7 the protuberances 8 of the fittings are rigidly inserted intothe fitting holes of the baseboards lwhich are interconnected with eachother through the flange 2 having the snap groove 3. The end to endabutting relationship of the individual track sections 7 is also shownin FIG. 7.

The locomotive toy I5 is driven by an energy of battery loaded on a coalwagon or passenger car 16. The wheels 17 of the locomotive toy 15 or thepassenger car 16 have spherical inner faces 18 which facilitate smoothtravel of the wheels along the rail and is more effective when runningalong the curved track sections.

As illustrated above according to the invention, the fittings arerigidly mounted on the baseboards by associating protuberancesintegrally provided on the fittings with the fitting holes provided inthe baseboards, so that the assembly is carried positively on thesurface of the baseboard.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated by way of example in the drawings and rum ticularlydescribed, it will be understood that modifications may be made in theconstructions and that the invention is no way limited to theembodiments shown.

lclaim:

1. An assembly toy set comprising, in combination, a baseboard havingaplurality of predeterminately spaced holes of like diameter in the topsurface thereof, said baseboard being formed on each side thereof withlocking flange means adapted to mate and lock with complemental flangemeans formed on the mating end of an adjacent baseboard to permit aseries of such boards to be joined together, certain of said the surfaceof said baseboard to form a track, each of said fittings being formedwith holes terminating in downwardly extending protuberances havingoutside diameters corresponding to the diameters of said holes in saidbaseboard for securely mounting said fittings thereon.

v2. The assembly toy set of claim 1 wherein certain of said fittings arestraight while others are curved whereby said fittings may be associatedin an endless track loop of desired configuration.

3. The assembly toy set of claim 1 further including hollow sleevefittings for supporting a pair of baseboards in vertically spacedrelation, each hollow sleeve fitting being formed with a protuberance atone end thereof the diameter of which corresponds to the diameter ofsaid holes in said baseboard for securely mounting said sleeve fittingsthereon, the opposite end 'of said sleeve fittings having an insidediameter corresponding to the protuberances forming the bottom of saidholesin said baseboard thereby to snugly receive the same for elevatedsupport.

1. An assembly toy set comprising, in combination, a baseboard having aplurality of predeterminately spaced holes of like diameter in the topsurface thereof, said baseboard being formed on each side thereof withlocking flange means adapted to mate and lock with complemental flangemeans formed on the mating end of an adjacent baseboard to permit aseries of such boards to be joined together, certain of said holeshaving bottom portions which terminate above the bottoms of said flangemeans, with certain other of said holes having bottom portions whichterminate in the plane of the bottom of said flange means to providefurther support for said baseboard when supported on a flat surface, thebottom portions of said other holes being shaped in the form ofprotuberances the diameters of which correspond to the diameters of saidholes, and a plurality of individual fittings juxtaposed on the surfaceof said baseboard to form a track, each of said fittings being formedwith holes terminating in downwardly extending protuberances havingoutside diameters corresponding to the diameters of said holes in saidbaseboard for securely mounting said fittings thereon.
 2. The assemblytoy set of claim 1 wherein certain of said fittings are straight whileothers are curved whereby said fittings may be associated in an endlesstrack loop of desired configuration.
 3. The assembly toy set of claim 1further including hollow sleeve fittings for supporting a pair ofbaseboards in vertically spaced relation, each hollow sleeve fittingbeing formed with a protuberance at one end thereof the diameter ofwhich corresponds to the diameter of said holes in said baseboard forsecurely mounting said sleeve fittings thereon, the opposite end of saidsleeve fittings having an inside diameter corresponding to theprotuberances forming the bottom of said holes in said baseboard therebyto snugly receive the same for elevated support.